REGIONS PRODUCING OLIVE OIL IN PORTUGAL
In Portugal there are six DOP (Denominação de Origem Protegida = Protected Designation of Origin) zones for olive oil production. The DOP classification means that the olive oil was made according to a number of stipulated rules, that take in consideration the varieties of olives, harvest conditions and transport to the press, processing conditions and final product properties.
1. Moura DOP
The olive oil from the region of Moura is widely used and recognized for its quality and it is no coincidence the popular saying: “As fine as Moura olive oil”. The olive oil of this region, made from the ‘Cordovil de Serpa’, ‘Galega Vulgar’ and ‘Verdeal Alentejana’ olive varieties, is very fruity, bitter and spicy with a yellowish green colour.
2. Alentejo Interior DOP
In the region of the Interior Alentejo, the combination of a very particular soil and climate creates a natural environment that is ideal for olive trees. This is a region with a wide range of soils all rich in calcium and potassium, strongly influencing the type of groves and the olives’ properties. The olive oil is golden or greenish in color with a fruity aroma of ripe and/or green olives and other fruit, such as apple and/or fig, which lends a sweet taste to the oil.
3. North Alentejo DOP
The olive oils of North Alentejo, with its origins in some of the Evora’s parishes in the districts of Estremoz, Borba, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Elvas, Campo Maior and Portalegre, mostly stems from the Galega Vulgar olive variety, as well as the Carrasquenha and Redondil. Those olive oils, which combine the fruits of the different varieties with overtones of apple and other ripe fruit, are usually quite thick with a golden and sometimes greenish colour.
4. Ribatejo DOP
The dominant olive variety in the Ribatejo region is the Galega Vulgar, at times combined with the Lentisca variety but only in Torres Novas. This is the region of sweet olive oils.
5. Beira Interior DOP
This region boasts the Galega Vulgar, as well as the Bical and Cordovil varieties of Castelo Branco, in the Sub-Region of olive oils of Beira Baixa, which delivers olive oils of complex aromas and tastes. Further north, where the Galega Vulgar is sometimes replaced by the varieties Carrasquenha, Cobrançosa, Carrasquinha and Cornicabra, we find the olive oil sub-region of Beira Alta bordering Rio Douro’s lands where a large number of varieties can be found.
6. Trás-os-Montes DOP
In the Bragança district, the most common variety is the Negrinha de Freixo. Here is where the Trás-os-Montes DOP begins, from Alfandega da Fé, Vila Flor to Valpaços and Murça, also including Mirandela, where the Madural, Cobrançosa and Verdeal Transmontana olives grow and where the Terra Quente climate and schist soils produce very delicate and complex olive oils with a very nutty aroma. These are extremely balanced olive oils with rather sweet, green, bitter and spicy tastes.